


for him.

by cuddlebee



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship/Love, Light Angst, NCT Dream - Freeform, NCT Dream Ensemble-centric, Teen Romance, chenle is one busy boy, i really dont know how to tag sorry, jisung writes songs, tiny bit of swearing, underage drinking is implied
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-08-28 13:58:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16724730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuddlebee/pseuds/cuddlebee
Summary: jisung cannot figure out how to express himself, so he finds a new way.





	1. end up here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> if jisung has to summarise his night, he would either say “surprised” or “shocked”.

while jisung is playing jeno's favourite song on guitar and renjun murmuring the lyrics, a familiar figure comes through the door. it seems like everyone is a little surprised, not only jisung. because this is a party, a party with lots of teenagers from many different schools, and seeing zhong chenle in here, where he would probably know few people, is a little bizarre if you ask jisung.

not that he thinks zhong chenle is a loser or anything, quite opposite actually, but he doesnt  remember seeing him at any of the parties thrown last year by his classmates. considering chenle is popular among students and even teachers, jisung thinks he has every right to be surprised now.

it has been a little longer than an hour since people started drinking, so chenle is late. not that it matters though, but it concludes with chenle getting attention. many people ask him his name and more starts to gossip about him immediately. "nice jacket he has," jisung hears one of the girls say. chenle flashes a smile, jisung notices his eyes becoming a line. "i'm chenle, nice to meet you!"

watching from afar, jisung remembers the tone of his voice, it is the same tone he used in the first day of their freshmen year; also the same one when he was visiting classes with mark, who was aiming to be student body president that year. so when sees even more people circling around chenle, he expects it. chenle already attracts many people by just staying there, but whenever he uses that tone of his voice, there is no one who doesn't fall for his charms.

of course jisung is one of them. so when chenle's eyes meets his after a while and smiles at him, he doesn't know what to do. it is not that he is in love with chenle, but they barely interact at school despite having lots of common lectures. getting that sudden attention from the golden boy of their school, jisung thinks karma has something planned for him. but jeno gets it first, "jisung can you bring more bowls from kitchen?"

jisung arrives at the kitchen, only to come upon a very confused looking chenle. “is there anything i can help with?” jisung asks, chenle jumps hearing the sudden voice.

“oh, jisung! you scared me.” chenle starts chuckling and jisung gives him a questioning look. “uhm, i was just looking for more red cups, couldn’t seem to find.”

jisung nods, starts looking for also red cups while getting the bowls. “do you think this much would be enough?”

“thank you jisung, i think it would.” chenle’s words sound so simple but jisung doesn’t understands why chenle looks at him so fondly. he’s been casted by a spell, by zhong chenle, he thinks.

 

-

 

surrounded by couples making out, jisung leaves the house, settling to the grass. few minutes later, he sees someone approaching; seconds later, he hears it. “hi, can i sit with you?”

“yeah, sure.” is the only answer jisung can give. silence falls between them, chenle doesn’t talk, so jisung decides to ask something stupid. “how did you find me here?”

chenle’s eyes opens wider, he starts to shout “wait, no! i didn’t mean to follow you!” hearing jisung’s giggles, chenle starts blushing, that makes jisung giggle more. 

this time he says with a soft voice, “really, i was just outside then i saw you here. but you didn’t seem to notice me so i’ve just thought it would be nice to chat with you rather than being alo—“

“hey, you started rambling.” jisung interrupts him. “it’s okay you know, i didn’t mean to sound like that either.”

chenle looks at him with those eyes again. maybe, jisung thinks, this is how he says thank you. but it still doesn’t explain why jisung starts feeling his blood rushing to his ears when he sees it. and hearing the next thing chenle said doesn’t help him any better, “nice shirt by the way, jisung.”

he murmurs a little thank you, and the nervous aura floating around them seems to disappear. they start talking about the his shirt, which has a fantastic kurt cobain design according to chenle. they discuss their favorite nirvana song and other bands. everytime they mention a different group, he tells chenle a story whether about the members or the songs. jisung notices his eyes spark whenever he hears a new story.

 

-

 

they are both laying down on the grass, jisung is talking about why bohemian rhapsody is still one of the most popular songs and how it was recorded. he finishes his “scientific explanation” but chenle hasn’t reacted at all. instead of chenle’s shocked expressions, all he can hear is his steady breathing. he stand ups to his elbows, finds chenle sleeping. he cannot leave him all night sleeping on a grass, so he taps chenle’s shoulder.

“chenle, you need to wake up” no response is to be heard, so jisung starts poking his torso. chenle wakes up immediately, as if he’s been electrified.

“what are you doing!” he shouts. he puts his hand to his sides, covering it as if he is trying to protect himself.

“you were asleep, didn’t know you would be so scared,” jisung says while bursting with laughter. “our little chenle is ticklish, cute.” he continues while trying to find where chenle is more ticklish. chenle keeps screaming until jisung is tried of repeating his actions.

now they are both looking at eachother, both of them have pink resting on their cheeks. jisung stands up first and reaches for chenle. “you wouldn’t want to sleep here all night, i can walk you home—” he sees chenle’s ears getting redder than before so he adds immediately, “—if you want, of course.”

 

chenle holds his hand, “yeah, i’d like that.” he can feel chenle’s gaze on his face when he turns around to leave the property. chenle starts walking faster, now that they are side by side, jisung feels something smooth touching his cheeks.

chenle’s lips.

only thing he can do is to turn his head, facing chenle. he looks jisung so endearing, jisung doesn’t know what he has done to deserve it, but he guesses what chenle will say next, just like the previous time. “thank you jisung, really. tonight has been really fun thanks to you.”

chenle continues walking while giggling slightly. jisung doesn’t seem to function properly -yes, the little peck on the cheek also caused it, but he has many questions in his head even apart from that. he wonders why chenle keeps thanking him, and why he thinks tonight has been fun because of him. jisung doesn’t deny that they had fun time together, but a normal teenager would consider the party as more fun than jisung.

his thoughts get interrupted by a call, “look jisung, my favorite song came on shuffle! wow, i must be really lucky today.” he rushes by chenle and recognises the song by it’s intro: livin’ on a prayer by bon jovi.

him and chenle, start singing along to the song in the empty streets. not so loud so they won’t disturb anyone, not so quiet so they can actually enjoy the song.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter, if you have any questions, requests, or any opinions about their story please let me know! i hope everyone has a good day.


	2. introducing me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chenle is blind to many things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> take a shot everytime i mention “lunch”
> 
> i hope everyone will enjoy this chapter!

 

"chenle!" he hears donghyuck calling his name, by the time he turns around donghyuck is already next to him. "is it true?"

"i really am not aware of what you are trying to imply, donghyuck." chenle responds with a smooth voice. he takes his time by using long sentences, because whatever the topic will be, chenle doesn't want to talk about anything. he can feel his stomach sticking to his back.

"i know you do, young man." they start walking in school corridors, donghyuck gets closer to chenle and whispers, "you were with jisung park all night, right? i saw you." chenle doesn't seem to escape it.

he actually feels a little relieved hearing that, it is not as bad as he thought it would be. at least donghyuck still doesn't know about chenle sending jeno photos of him sleeping. "well, yes." then turns his face to donghyuck, asks, "but i don't understand why you're asking if you saw. you know, i know only like three people from the party and two of them started eating eachothers faces after a while..." chenle puts a mischievous smile in his face. but donghyuck doesn't seem to be affected by chenle's remarks.

"yeah! that's my point exactly, you had some free time and actually attended a party. but you still choose to hang out with someone from our school." donghyuck sighes, "what a waste, really! i even gave you wrong time so you could come late and meet more people and—"

chenle cuts his words, "who said i didn't? i've met them, just didn't spend my whole night around them." he checks his watch, only few minutes left to class. "by the way, shouldn't you be in the bio lab already? i remember you mentioning something about cow eyes, how exciting!" he reminds his friend with a fake smile.

one moment later, when he sees donghyuck looking so cut up, it breaks his heart. "i'm really sorry donghyuck, didn't mean to cut you off like that." he pulls him to a hug. "not in the best mood, let's talk at lunch, okay?" donghyuck nods.

after separating from the hug, they both take their own directions but chenle feels like it wasn't enough. "have fun with your experiment!" he shouts. hearing donghyuck's laughs, he is not troubled anymore.

 

-

 

chenle's next class is history. when he enters the class, some of the students are already there. when he notices a certain person, he approaches him.

"hi, jisung." chenle says with a soft voice, then places his books to the seat in front of jisung's. jisung lifts his head up and also greets the other.

few minutes pass with silence amongst the two. mr. adams seems to be late, chenle thinks. he checks the classroom, noone seems to mention it. chenle also doesn't want to, because he knows the moment he opens his mouth to mention mr. adams, he will come through the door.

he doesn't want to take that risk but he needs a topic to talk to jisung. he was a little tipsy at the party, but he still remembers how comfortable he was around jisung or how he enjoyed jisung's companionship. jisung seems to be busy by writing some stuff, so he doesn't want to interrupt him with his "how are you?"s.

while he's thinking about what to say, he hears, "mr. adams isn't around, is he? he's never late." chenle's eyes focus on jisung immediately, rather than wandering around the class.

"yeah, i also think it's little weird." he answers while all of the confusing thoughts inside his head vanish. 'well it's safe to say he doesn't hate me, huh?' chenle thinks.

"i'm super sure he's preparing something. maybe he was looking for some swords so he can teach us how they used to fight in wars." chenle laughs at jisung's words. but jisung is not wrong. mr. adams likes his job very much, anyone who has seen him in a class can say it. his eyes shine when he talks about a victory and he answers all kinds of stupid questions with the same enthusiasm.

"how sure are you?" his eyebrows raises as he asks the question.

"huh?"

"from 0 to 100, how sure are you? give me a percentage." chenle repeats, making sure what he meant is more clear now.

"okay, math boy. let's say ninety nine percent." jisung says, his voice becomes louder. he checks the clock, mr. adams is 10 minutes late by now. he makes more assumptions, "well, he will come in 5 minutes, to be exact."

"don't you think ninety nine percent is little low? have a little faith in yourself, will you?"

and at that moment, someone opens the door rapidly. before they see it, students hear it's voice: "alright kids, it's time for the 'once in a blue moon' quiz!"

chenle turns around, his back is facing jisung. he listens to mr. adams’ apologies for being late and "principal told me i had to do it, sorry pals"s but he can also feel jisung leaning towards him.

"at least i left that one percent." jisung lays back in his seat, chenle waits a moment to think. his test paper is now at his desk. 40 questions in total.

he starts readingthe questions, then it hits him: what jisung meant.

-

"okay, guys! your time is over, hand the papers to the front."

everyone starts handing their tests to the front, rushing. it's lunch break now, no time to lose. chenle feels the same, especially today. after he gives out his test, he hurries and takes his pencil case and books. before he stands up, he turns to jisung, who seems to be taking his time.

he puts his hand on jisung's resting hand on the desk and gives it a little squeeze, "thanks for the wise words, gandalf. i'll see you around."

as he leaves the class to find donghyuck, he sees others rushing over to jisung. jisung is pretty good at history, he thinks. they must be checking answers from him.

 

-

 

next day, chenle comes upon jisung at the hall. he offers him to have lunch together. jisung doesn't look sure when he says okay, "is your friends okay with it?"

"you're also my friend, are you okay with it?" when jisung smiles and nods his head, chenle feels happy. he cannot contain his excitement, he hugs jisung. jisung doesn't hug back so he  takes a step back, still smiling.

jisung clears his throat. "okay, great. then i'll see you at the cafeteria?" he heads to his classroom as he waves his hand at chenle.

 

-

 

that day and the following day - tuesday and wednesday - they sit together at lunch with donghyuck and ally. chenle feels really happy but he also notices that jisung rarely joins the conversation.

next morning, he decides to talk with him. he finds jisung's locker and waits for him. he sees jisung getting closer, eyes locked to the floor.

"good morning, can i talk to you for a second?" chenle asks, he sees jisung's surprised face. fair enough, he wouldn't also expect someone to greet him the minute he enters the school.

jisung gestures him to take a step aside, reaches his locker, "what's the topic?"

"i was wondering if you're okay, you looked down yesterday at lunch." chenle asks him, his eyes in anticipation.

"i'm okay. no need to worry." jisung says, "it's fun watching you guys."

"oh, did we made you uncomfortable?"

"no, chen—"

"of course! you're not uncomfortable around donghyuck. he is your bestfriend's boyfriend after all."

"if anything, i'm too comfortable around donghyuck."

chenle nods his head but he still cannot figure out the problem. "whatever the thing is, i'm sorry, okay?" he takes jisung's hand in his, "you should have lunch with your group again, we can meet another time."

 

-

 

the things is, they can't. it's not that they didn't talk about it but chenle has piano lessons at mondays and fridays; he also stays after school at tuesdays and thursdays to prepare for mathematics olympiades. at wednesdays, jisung usually meets his friends -renjun, jeno and jaemin- who doesn't attend the same high school as his.

they still see eachother at school and usually meet up after lunch. they sit at the stairs most of the days but if the weather is nice, they go to the rooftop. they don't spend much time together but chenle believes this much is enough for now.

another week passes just like that, this time they are at the rooftop. laying down without saying anything, jisung starts to speak, "you know, whole class talks about you and me."

"really?" chenle asks, standing up on his elbows now, "what are they talking about?"

"they asked me how i tricked 'the golden kid in our school'. they think we're dating." chenle starts laughing at the nickname but when jisung's eyes meet his, he stops. jisung is not pouting or anything but his eyes tell chenle something is wrong.

"you didn't trick me. you're not a wizard, are you?" chenle tries to assure him. jisung smiles as if he is forced to. it hurts.

chenle didn't know jisung felt insecure about their friendship or people talked about them. he doesn't know what to do.

 

-

 

“i think you should talk this with hyuck, you know? he is by your side and i’m like hundreds of kilometres away.” mark’s voice comes through chenle’s laptop screen. no image though, because mark is too lazy to show his face.

“that’s why i’m asking for your opinion. he can mock me whenever he wants to, you don’t.” chenle answers. “do you think i should stop talking to him at school? maybe people will stop talking and he won’t feel bad.”

“or,” marks starts his sentence, “you can continue acting as his friend and people will stop talking after a while.”

to be honest, chenle didn’t really listen to mark, “yeah, you’re right. i would meet him less frequently and it will be fine.”

“i’m pretty sure i said the total opposite of that, just a second ago!” mark objects to chenle’s idea.

“i love you too, markie. goodnight!” chenle ends the call, rushing. 

 

-

 

he only meets jisung twice after lunch, in that week and only greets jisung when he sees him.

when jisung asks him why, he answers “i’m sorry, only for this week though. i’ll be more free next week.” and jisung doesn’t look like he has a problem with it.

so on friday after school, when jisung gives him a little usb stick, he is little surprised. he left the school later than usual, he didn’t know any students were still in school. he wants to ask what’s inside but he can’t, he has to hurry. 15 minutes left the piano lesson.

after the lesson, he calls his mother asking if it’s okay to pick him up. he wants to go home as soon as possible, his heart is filled with curiosity.

he arrives at home, directly goes to his room and opens his computer. he plugs the usb in, there are two files inside it: one is in a video format and is named “track.68” and the other one is a word file named “track 68 lyrics”.

chenle assumes the order doesn’t matter so he plays the video first. he sees jisung with a guitar - classical or acoustic, chenle cannot figure out which one. and to his surprise, jisung sings.

the melody is nice and his words are not too fast to follow, so chenle understands most of the song. but it doesn’t makes sense to chenle why jisung wrote a song about the things he likes, so he checks the word file.

i wasn’t hallucinating voices, chenle thinks. because the ‘official lyrics’ is also about what jisung likes and whatnot.

video is probably taken with jisung’s iphone and the song is not very emotional but it still makes chenle’s warm heart. i like it, he thinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i imagined jisung’s song similar to camp rock’s “introducing me” which is also the chapter title. 
> 
> you can imagine however you like, i thought i would mention it so it may be easier.


	3. can’t help falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dramatic responses with strong opinions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took a little while because the chapter was way longer than i planned for the plot, i did some editing and i hope you will like it :)

ever since the moment jisung gave chenle the usb stick, he has been feeling uneasy. the first few hours were better actually, because jisung knew chenle had piano lessons and he couldn't listen to the song. but as the hours went on his brain started filling with questions, one following another. 

why hasn't chenle contact him until now? he could've text or call? have he just forgotten about it? or did he thought he song was bad but he is too kind to tell jisung? what if chenle thinks the song is way too stupid and decides to cut ties with jisung?

he buries his face in his pillow, mumbling about how stupid he is. he needs to stop, preferably right now. he leaves his bed and takes steps toward the living room. his parents are watching some crime stories. at least it's better than torturing myself, he thinks. he smiles softly to his mother as he sits down next to her. 

-

next morning, jisung wakes up feeling rested, maybe a little too much. even though it is nearly winter, his room felt warm which meant it has been hours since sunrise.

he wanders his hand under his pillow, just to get his phone and check the time. he cannot find it. he stands up, checks the blanket and the desk but it doesn't look like his phone is in the room.

"mom!" he shouts as he shuts the door behind his back, "have you seen my phone?” 

"it's next to the tv. you forgot it at the coach last night, i left it on charge." 

jisung feels relieved not only finding his phone but also finding it %100 charged. he would not need to charge it through the day now. he flashes a smile across the room, giving her mother a thumbs up, "thanks, you're the best!" 

he takes the cable off and sees that it's only few minutes past eleven o'clock. normally he would bang his head to the wall and whine about why he woke up so late, but jisung had things distracting him at the moment. chenle had texted him.

he was leaning against the wall, his weight on his right leg. as his eyes widens and his heartbeat fastens, he lays on the floor unintentionally.

"then, let's see," he encourages himself. the messages was sent last night which seems weird to jisung. why didn't he hear the notifications?

jisung doesn't actually know what kind of response he was expecting, he didn't put many thoughts about what would happen after chenle heard his song. he just felt like chenle needed to hear it, so he went with it. but what he wasn't clearly expecting was crying and heart emojis.

**i've just listened to the song, it was so good!! ♡ ( ᵒ̴̶̷̥́ ·̫ ᵒ̴̶̷̣̥̀ ) ♡**

**you've written it right?**

**i've searched for it on internet but couldn't find it T.T**

these messages were sent before midnight, jisung notices. he keeps scrolling down.

**hey**

**are you sleeping already??**

**jisung i don't think i've completely understood the lyrics?**

**it's like you're talking to someone in the song then you suddenly say "i hate it when i have to run and my pets die"**

and those were sent around 2 am. even though chenle said that he didn't understand what jisung meant, that wasn't something jisung could fix. the words were all there without any depth within their meanings.

jisung had been writing ever since he learned how to write; it was stories in elementary school, he also tried writing poems and novels when he was in middle school but he didn't know when his words turned into songs. he always thought of it as a gradual process.

he had tons of songs unfinished, only few of them were composed or recorded - in his phone to be clear. all these notebooks were also his journals, if he had written the words without rhymes, you really couldn't see a difference. 

jisung lay face down on the surface, when his torso met the cold surface of the hardwood floor, it felt pleasing to him. as he takes his phone in his hands again to reply chenle's texts he hears his mother's voice, "jisung park! what are you doing? don't come crying to me when you get a stomachache."

after her words, he stands up and goes back to his room. there is no point in arguing.

**if you're still wondering, i was sleeping safe and sound**

**i mean i think?**

**i wasn't really aware of time last night**

he leaves the chatroom just after he replies but gets another message immediately.

**it's good to hear you slept well :)**

it is something jaemin would say to him anytime, it isn't anything special. but he could hear chenle's voice in his head and imagine the look in his face, just by the thoughts jisung started his cheeks getting warmer and his lips going upwards. as he was in dreamland, chenle had already sent him another message:

**it's a bit late but are you free today?**

**i'm going to city center**

**i hope you have fun by yourself**

jisung starts giggling out of nowhere, imagining chenle's reactions. holy crap, he thinks, i'm getting crazier every passing day. 

**:(**

**don't be mean to me**

**i missed you**

fuck you, jisung wants to tell him. i'm having a great day without my chest bursting out and you say this as if it's nothing. 

this is how he agrees to meet chenle at 2 pm.

-

"ji-sung!" he hears someone screaming his name from the top of their lungs, before he turns his head to greet the person, there are arms around his shoulders and chenle's breath hits jisung's neck. he stumbles because of the said person suddenly jumping to him.

jisung gets out of chenle's embrace, now looking at his face. chenle has pink roses resting on his cheeks, his smile is clear. he has really pale skin that probably the soft breeze caused the colours in his cheeks. weather is not even too cold today.

-

after a long heated argument was made about who is going to buy coffee, chenle offered to decide by playing rock-paper-scissors, which jisung accepted happily. now here he is, sulking about it because he lost.

"shouldn't the older pay this this stuff? why i'm spending my money on this." jisung starts objecting.

"i don't know your birthday, how can i know if you're lying to me to not buy coffee?" chenle asks back. his arms are crossed and he lays back on his chair, he looks at jisung as if he's challenging him.

"february 5th" jisung says, in one breath. "my birthday."

a huge smile spreads across the chenle's face, jisung doesn't understand what he is so happy about. "wow! you're nearly a year older than me. my birthday is on november 22nd."

that meant his birthday was few weeks ago, but of course jisung didn't know that, they were just starting to becoming friends then. this fact doesn't stop him from feeling bad. 

chenle pulls his chair beside jisung's and put his hand on jisung's back, patting it. jisung startles. "uncle jisung, are you doing well? do your kids do well in school? i—" 

he starts laughing all of a sudden, but it is not a giggle or a soft laugh. it's a loud laugh which is kinda unexpected from jisung. "february 2002," chenle looks at him as if jisung lost his mind but chenle's funny face expression makes him laugh more. few seconds later he puts one of his hand on his chest, takes a deep breath to calm himself down. "i started going to school a year early."

"oh," chenle says, "didn't know that. now go buy me a mocha." his face has a dull expression.

"yes, sir." he salutes, then leaves the table to order coffee. he swears he can hear chenle's mischievous laughter the moment he turns his back to him.

jisung hasn't noticed before, but the cafe looks really modern and nice. the lights are also not so bright and the colours are warm. 

as he is waiting, he gets a text from renjun:

**gonna meet at minmin's at six**

jisung sighs at the message, not because of the invitation but renjun's choice of name.

**please stop calling jaemin minmin**

**it's weird**

**i can call him whatever i want**

**we are twins**

**no, you're not**

**btw i might be late**

**i'm at the downtown**

he hears barista calling his name, puts his phone to his pocket and takes the coffees.

- 

"jisung, when are we going to talk about it?" chenle's head is resting on the table, they are still in that cafe. chenle doesn't keep eye contact with him as he is asking, he is just looking outside thinking about who knows what.

"what are we supposed to talk about?" jisung asks him back, did they meet for a reason? he cannot remember it. "did i miss something?"

chenle puts his head up straightening his back, he looks jisung as if he committed murder, chenle cannot believe jisung doesn't know what he is talking about.

"the song?" he words it, looking jisung with anticipating eyes. 

"aah, yeah!" jisung exclaims, "i've totally forgotten about it." his hand goes to his neck, playing with the part which seemed to grow longer these days. even he doesn't actually know how he was able to forgot about, it even caused him sleeping issues last night.

"well, it's time for you to recall it, because i have some tiny questions." chenle says, extending the word tiny when he speaks. jisung doesn't know what to do, it feels like he is going to be interrogated. but chenle speaks even before he can disagree with the idea.

"how did you write it?" 

"using my hands and some words, i guess?" jisung himself is not also satisfied by the answer but the question itself isn't promising.

chenle rolls his eyes and sighs, "okay, i deserved it." he searches for a better way to voice his thoughts. after few seconds, jisung can see his eyes lighting up. "i've found a great way." he says with a grin on his face.

he takes his phone in his hands and points it to jisung, "mr. park, what is your latest hit about? can you please explain it a little for your fans and the media?"

chenle speaks like an journalist, which sounds weird to jisung. he stops his laughters and puts a serious expression on his face. he leans in to chenle's phone or so-said microphone, "i would not like to answer to question. thank you." then lays back on the chair.  

"sir, please answer. lots of people are waiting to hear." chenle starts the sentence confidently, his voice loses power through the end. his mouth forms a pout, a very cute one according to jisung. 

jisung feels embarrassed, chenle is keeping eye contact and he just spurts out the words, becoming smaller as he speaks "it's you. the one i'm talking to in the song." oh god, he can already feel his cheeks in flames. it doesn't help that chenle's cheeks are also red now. he must've feel uncomfortable, jisung feels like he destroyed a new blooming friendship.

"you like how i pronounce your name?"

great, because jisung was stupid enough thinking chenle won't ever ask about anything. how he is supposed to explain it?

chenle searches for something in his coat's pockets, then put jisung's memory stick to the table.he giggles upon seeing jisung's face matching his red sweater. "i'm joking. here, you probably want it back," he said as he playfully hit jisung's arm.

jisung takes the usb in his hand and starts playing with it just to avoid awkward situations. chenle is still looking at him, he makes a gesture to encourage jisung to talk. 

"uhm," jisung starts talking, not really sure which words will come out from his mouth. "i just felt like i have so many things to tell you about but we didn't meet as often last week, so that happened." he breathes out what he is holding.

chenle reaches for the other's hand across the table and give it a comforting squeeze, "you can talk for how long you wish, i'm here now."

-

"so you had a date with chenle today?" jeno asks jisung, it leaves other two in utter shock. while  jaemin and renjun's eyes keeps going back and forth between jeno and jisung, jeno speaks "hyuck told me. chenle texted him he is going to meet with you.” 

"we met like he said, but define 'date' please." jisung leaves the room to take his favorite bag of chips from the kitchen.

"cannot believe you didn't told us, we would've given you advice!" he hears jaemin asking. but jisung is not really sure about that. jaemin had only one first date, he is still with his first girlfriend. renjun had many, but he also never wanted to have a relationship. "i am an independent individual who likes to take his time before turning my life to hell." he would say it whenever this topic was discussed, repeating himself like a parrot.

jeno would probably give good advice but jisung didn't feel it was needed, no one said it was a date. "we just decided on it this afternoon, it wasn't really a deal." jisung tried to assure jaemin.

"can't believe i missed my son's first date..." jaemin starts fake sobbing, renjun gives him a napkin and rubs his hand on jaemin's back.

jisung starts laughing at the dramatic scene, in that moment jeno shouts "cut! great scene everyone, let's move on to the next one!" jeno winks subtly to jisung, jisung feels relieved that they will move on from this topic. thanks to jeno's sense of humour.

- 

next week, chenle asks jisung what is he doing in christmas break. they are sitting in an empty class, waiting for the teacher. it's one of the classes they share.

"i will be out of the town. family meeting. and you?" 

he can see chenle's lips curving downwards slightly. "i'm here." 

short answers. another tiny proof that chenle is not in the best mood.

"did you have something in mind?" jisung questions.

"i was going to ask if we could meet, but that doesn't seem possible." jisung can literally see 'disappointment' written around chenle, in bold letters. 

"we still have the weekend. we can meet if you want?" jisung suggests. chenle takes his seat while other student come in.

- 

next morning, chenle starts speaking the moment he sees jisung. chenle seems very excited. he probably waited for jisung to come to school.

"guess what? we are allowed to have sleepover if we want to!" jisung doesn't know how to describe the sounds chenle's making right now. at least he is pretty sure chenle looks happy, so high-pitched laugh would be the best fit. he accepts the offer and they plan their sleepover in the afternoon.

(jisung asks him why he hasn't texted last night instead of waiting and chenle says, "it's always better to see your face.")

-

jisung visits chenle's house that weekend. he greets his parents and is being pulled by chenle to his room, immediately. he hasn't even had the time to look around, he likes examining decorations actually so it's a pity.

chenle's room is unexpectedly tidy, he recalls chenle's mention of fights with his mom due to chaos in his room. 

"it took me four days and nights to clean up. never doing it again in two years." chenle jumps to his bed.

"it looks like your efforts didn't go to waste. good job." jisung gives him a thumbs up, taking his backpack off. he presses a few notes in chenle’s portable electronic piano before sitting next to him. 

-

they are now playing the game chenle recently bought in turns. chenle wanted go first, so jisung let him be but now he feels bored. he feels the urge to talk.

"chenle," jisung calls him, chenle hums to show he is listening. "you said you didn't believe in fate, right?" remembering their conversation from few days ago.

_"don't you think it's weird we didn't become friends years ago? i mean jeno and hyuck has been dating for a long time." jisung asks chenle, reaching to get another jelly from him._

_"it would be more weird if we became friends because of them. our friendship would be affected from theirs." chenle answered without giving too much thought._

_"i think it's meant to be," jisung said, as if he is trying to prove something. jisung is looking at him but chenle's eyes are wandering around school garden._

_"i don't believe in it." chenle doesn't let jisung to say another word. he turns his head and meets jisung's eyes, unexpectedly. "meeting someone cannot be my destiny, i think."_

"yeah, i guess. what's this about?" chenle tilts his head a little to the right, narrowing his eyes when he looks at jisung. this is one of the typical expressions he has when he is trying to figure out something— very similar to the one he had minutes ago when he was trying to understand the game.

"last night i've watched some video about soulmates," jisung starts explaining "so i just wondered what you think about it." 

"oh, i'm not sure how i feel about it." he puts his hand under his chin and looks to the ceiling, thinking. "but if there are, i'm sure i've met plenty of them."

jisung is surprised by chenle's words. he never thought soulmate stuff as plural, he always believed everyone had one soulmate through their lives. "huh? how is that even works, a person has one soulmate, right?"

chenle starts laughing, "look at you, restricting my imagination." he clicks his tongue, showing his disapproval. "speaking theoretically; if i have a mutual feeling with someone, they can be my soulmate, right? because it means we share a part of our souls."

jisung lifts his body a little from the bed so that he straightens his back. "but that means if you hate each other then you could also be soulmates? or if you hate the same person?"

"good point. then let's say if you share a positive mutual feeling, no one should hate each other." chenle tries to find a half-way. it is obvious he wants to turn back to gaming.

jisung sighs loudly, "i hate you, you are annoying." he says as a half joke half statement. 'yeah, no one should hate each other and i should get married with a murderer' goes through his mind.

"okay, okay. don't be mad." chenle pats jisung's shoulder and puts his finger on where jisung’s brows connected, breaking jisung’s frown. jisung takes chenle's hands off from his face, frowning even more. "tell me about the video, maybe you can change my mind."

"so, someone was speaking theoretically," jisung starts his words, emphasising on the word 'theoretically' and it makes chenle laugh. "that every person is connected to someone with an invisible string and you will meet that person eventually. because that string will bring you together, no matter how far away you are from each other."

the room is silent, both lost in their thoughts. jisung thinks it would be better if chenle wasn't still staring at his face, his eyes blank. he waves his hand, "what are you looking? many people like this idea as far as i've seen."

"just thinking," chenle shakes his head, waking himself up. "i can see why people like it. humans like belonging to someone, or to own something in general." jisung makes an annoyed gesture as soon as his words finish. 

"there is nothing wrong with that," jisung fires back. no one would believe two high school students are arguing about soulmates while having a sleepover, but everything is possible with two passionate boys. and that is exactly what is happening.

"i didn't say it is wrong, i just pointed out the reason." while jisung is reacting fast, chenle remains calmer in comparison. "what i'm trying to say is, why the old man who takes care of me in the neighbourhood or my friend can't be my soulmates at the same time? it should be possible since i felt connected with them through a period in my lifetime. so we must have string attached to each other."

chenle notices that jisung listens to him with his full attention and knowing that, he feels like he should keep going. he starts improvising a little at this point. "what if we are connected to everyone that made our lives better? even if someone you don't know their name."

"like the barista who gave you free cookies?" jisung asks, he remembers how happy chenle was when he telling to him that story.

"yes! because she made my day much better, her memory still remains." chenle exclaims. 

"then, you think your bond will fade out if you forget her?"

"ye— wait, are you writing a fiction or something, what is this?" chenle asks jisung, who is looking clearly amused. jisung was feeling annoyed few minutes ago but now hearing chenle making assumptions, he is feeling better. it is fun.

he puts his hands up in the air as if he's surrendered. "i'm not doing anything. you're the one who says this stuff." his index finger points at chenle "you, are the one writing a fiction." they both start giggling, sounds filling the room.

"then i will continue, what was i saying?"

"bond fading away." he reminds chenle. 

"yes, so the bond will no longer remain probably after a while, since i don't even remember the memory, her or how i felt at the moment. if we are in touch, our bond would maybe weaker but i don't think it will go away."

"like you and mark?" jisung asks, chenle talks about him a lot. if he asks chenle to choose one person to be his soulmate, jisung is pretty sure chenle will choose mark.

"of course. our string isn’t brighter as it used to be but it is clearly still there, it must be." jisung laughs at how he is still not sure despite talking very confidently. he is not sure what happened at chenle to change his thoughts this fast but he likes listening to chenle.

"the opposite scenario is also possible. for example, we had our string attached to each other when we first met. it was still there, but very pale. but now we became friends so our string must be shining really brightly these days." the words coming out from chenle's mouth makes jisung warm. not because he feels shy or embarrassed, it is something else. 

"i hope it never fades out." jisung wishes from the bottom of his heart, smiling endearingly. his voice is lower and calmer considering they were talking really loud just a second ago. he doesn't know if chenle heard him or not.

he also wishes this new feeling never goes away, the warmth. he doesn't know if this is only a crush, if he only likes chenle or if he loves him. but it doesn't matter. it doesn't matter which one it is if he has chenle by his side. and the warm feeling.

-

(in the middle of the night chenle asks him, "when will you write a song about this?"

"it is really not how it works. c’mon, let’s sleep now."

"it's okay, i will wait for it. goodnight, jisung.")


End file.
